Conveying mechanism



July 18, 1933 E. E. HAGELINE `CONVEYING' MECHANISM Filed Aug. 6, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet l July 18, 1933. E, E, HAGELINE CONVEYING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 6, 1931 v 5 sheets-'sheet 2 July 18, 1933. E, l.;` HAGELNE 1,918,537

CONVEYING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 6, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 uku' U Dg

l' ar E. E. HAGELINE CONVEYING MECHANISM July 18, 1933.

ily/m71@ Filed Aug. 6

S ,N Y wm July 18, 1933. E E .HAGELlNE I 1,918,537

CONVEYING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 6, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 54 Patented `July is, i933` maar.yai;` mammie, *or

)e0 eine l "Comense,

vApplication mea Auguste, 1931.

This invention relatesy to conveyingl mech- 4anifsmpand has for its object the )provision of improved j, plurality 5 disposed With relation to each other,ftogether ith `means ,'ti'cles: upon conveying apparatus 'employing a ofA conveyor trackvvays I'ang'ularly the Ivarious trackways;`A and means Y 4for arresting the travel 'of articlesupon se- `lected'traclfiways so as to provide fora conltinuous delivery of articles Without interference. v

further object is `the provision of .a main conveyor trackway .or guidevvay .with

conveyor mechanism associated therewith and anisrns ad C'OVQYOT `the travel together with means one ormore auxiliary feeding conveyor mecha'pted to convey articles to said main for `arresting of articles upon saidauxiliary con'- veyor or conveyors, when an article is being conveyed would veyed upon o apparatus as ,disclosed is particuf ors.` The upon said main conveyorata point interfere with thearticle conthe auxiliary conveyor or conveylarly` vadapted for milk handling plants, and the particular. embodiment 'shows crates of bottled `milk to illustratethevinventiontV It will be understood, however,

tion is not limited to this character of article to be conveyed, but.

The invention v'consists in the rcombinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, 4 f L The invention Willbe bestunderstoodlby reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this speciication, andin Which-` 1 conveyor; y; y 1 .MI l Fig. 2 isa continuation billig.` 1 showingthe main `conveyor Vand a second auxiliary or y is a planvieiv shovvingtheinain conveyor and4 one oi the auxiliary or feeding conveyors operatively associated: With 'the `main feeding conveyor,.as Well afsthedelivery .or

`disci"large Fig. B

end ofthe apparatus;I`` l *o l is a (vertical sectionalvievv `taken thedriving me conveyor chain jon the main conveyor;

conveyor chain on"the.maingconveyor;` r

for transporting or conveyingaro `trate theoperating mechanism;y

may be employed Afor any" purpose Where apparatus of this character is suitable. 4 i l .i

Other objects will appear thereina-fter.

Vallowing ample space on 4 thev l y delivery portion fof the fr hainvfconveyor `t0 `coiiimod te y 'ot o rig. its termalstami-vwiaknsiib. .l st'antiallyV on theline ofsFig. 2, showing the driving mechanism `iorthe .high'speed p Figf is anxenlargedfplan viev'vo .the ceii- 65 trafl; portion of Fig. 2,10.r more 1 clearly `illusdilig.y 6 `is a4 vertical sectional fievv. taken I substantially `on'theline.6--6 of Fig.f5; Fi'g. 7 is anen'largedgvertical se'ctionalvievv taken substantially on the line-7&7 of Figi. 2;

. Fig. `8 isa vieu7 o the svvitclilxx` enclosing i the mercury switchl Which makes and breaks kthe j circuit orthe arresting meansonlthe auxiliary conveyor; .65 Fig. 9 isan enlargedverti'cal sectional view y of the switch inechanismfshown in FigifS n y Fig.;-1O `is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken substantiallyon ,Figfiiis a jveitieaiammilviewfen@ substantially on the lline of Fig@ 110;

` Fig. 12isiav, vertical sectionalfvieivftaken vsubstantially kon the line. 12e-,12 of Fig. 10. that the inven- 7s As illustrated the drawingsithe prep ferred lembodiment of ythe. invention., comL prises a main linearfconveyorl. Upto the pointl'shovvn in Figytthe articlesfaref iconlveyed at a relativelyslowver' speed thanv y this point; on. This is Lfor `the purpose'bf high speed y i ynlythe articles being-con- 'vyed une@ imam. crweyof, but-also the, ticlebeinaeifl when@conveyors@ the auxiliary "co"nveyors.l i., In other yyords,.to thepoint shownfiii;Fig'.z Eiland Lthe'-,cor'r Siodfls Point? il'iFigl. ilgth. @aids are conveyed alwre'laal'y:advised cordance With the required speed tonccnif modate articlesbeingsy supplied ,to .fthe tcon-y veyorftobfconveyedjtothis'point, but from 'f' there@ feed to aefdischagezend. if

the main `conveyor .the conveying mechanism is speededuup" in orderjlthat,thevfdischajge. portieriV of'` the main conveyor.iinayjremovg and, .discharge Hetv only art-iClQSi-eflf imm the-"preliminary portion of the main convey- 100 y' the line 10mm, l" lov l .in both vertical and horizontal or, but also articles supplied or fed from the ployed in the present invention which actually engage the articles for conveyingpurposes are all of the same type and are'composed of links connected-so as to be universally flexible in order that the chains may flex planes.

Upon the low speed feeding portion of the :main conveyor, ythe articles are conveyed by a conveyor chain'20, the -upper surface of which extends at ,a slight elevation above the channel '18 and theI trackways 19 in ori der to contact.supportingly with the article.

closes gearing driven :curedto shaft 415,5. from .gear reduction assembly mounted on a shaft all of the conveyor chains. conveyor chain 1s driven .secured to transverse drive rIhis preli-minary low speed yfeeding conveyor lchainis driven by a sprocket '2l secured to transverse shaft 22 j ournaled in the framework of the machine, as shown in Fig. 3. After passing over sprocket 21, the lower run of chain 20 travelsv rearwardly in a lower channel chain f 30 guide23. Shaft 22 carries a driving sprocket 24 driven by chain 25 connected to sprocket 26 f 27, which in turn enby motor 28 through speedV conveyor chain tion gearing assembl,

shaft 29. lThe high -travelswithin channel chain guideway v which yextends in overlapped relationship with the channelL 18, as vshown lin Fig. 1, whereby conveyance of the articles is not interrupted, and channel SO-Supp'orts al high speed conveyoichain 31. Theupper surface of conveyor chain 31 extends a slightdistance above the channel 30 and the correlated trackwaysf19y corresponding to the arrangement in connection with conveyor chain 20, and this same construction and arrangement is employed-in connection with .The high speed by sprocket 32 shaft 33 journaledfin the frame of the machine,vas` shown in Fig. 2. j Shaft 33 is driven by L'chain 34 which travels over driven ,sprocket 35 sev 33 and drive sprocket 36. SprocketB issecuredto shaft 37 extending 38 containing lby means of gearing driven by motor 3.9

of high lspeed conveyor pulley 42 loosely mounted on shaft 43,' which in turn is capable of forward or rearward adjustment through threaded vadjusting bolts 44.

In the preferre'dembodiment of the inven- .stood that a linear vcharge framework 'porting extending from reduc- 'rails 60, andtrackways 61.

channel guide 41 tion illustrated, the articles conveyed at the 'discharge end of the-.machine make a com.- plete reverse travel, although it lwill be underdischarge or a discharge at any desired anglemay be provided for. This discharge operation is-carried out by means of the high speed conveyor cha-in 45 forming a continuation of the first auxiliary feeding or conveying mechanism, as presently explained. Chain 45 is driven by sprocket 46 securedto shaft 47 journaled in the dis'- 48, trackways 49,-as shown in Fig. 2. has secured thereto gear 50 which meshes with gear lsecured to shaft 33, and by this construction andfarrangement the chain 45 is driven at the same linear speed as chain 31.`

having discharge i Shaft 47 v In making the complete reverse delivery turn .f

shown in Fig. 2, chain 45 travels upon sup'- ledge 52 formed by annular flange 53 of a horizontally rotating-wheel 54`loosely mounted on stud shaft 55. Also yto facilitate travel of the'conveyed article, an inner endless chain `56 is similarly 54. .The foregoing apparatus handles ythe articles on the main conveyor portion of the apparatus, from the extreme left portion as shown vin Fig.v 1 having the low speed lconveyor mechanism, to the extreme `rightportion shown in Fig. 2, completing thehigh speed` conveyor mechanism.

carriedl by wheel In carrving out the invention, any number of auxiliary lateral feeding conveyors mayv be employed to feed and convey 'articles to the main conveyor, but regardlessof the number, provision is made for discharging' articles fromv the auxiliary `conveyors without interference with the articles being conveyed upon the main conveyor. In the embodiment shown, Fig. 1 villustrates a first auxiliary conveyor 57, and Fig. 2 illustrates a second auxiliary conveyor-58. Lateral conveyor 58,'for example, comprises suitable framework havying supporting llegs 59, lateral article guide Articles are conveyed from the auxiliary conveyor 58 to the main conveyor 15 by means of high speed conveyor chain-62 I 63 upon the auxiliary conveyor, and in a corresponding channel 64 upon the main con- Inasmuch angularly disposed with relation tothe main conveyor 15, chain 62`travels rupon wheel 65 which 'is identical in construction and operation with wheel 54 heretofore explained. Wheel 65 carries aninn'er endless article supporting chain G6 and isloosely mounted upon vertical stud shaft 67. Chain 62is driven by sprocket 68- mounted .upon shaft 3,3-in` thev travels in a channel chain guide identical in which travels inf channel i` as auxiliary conveyor 58 is transverse vsha-ft 70` in construction with ithe upper ichaniiel chain supporting-guide.

The auxiliary conveyor 58 .is 4provided with a'loiv speed feeding conveyor chain 72 which travelsgin ya siiitablechannel and is driven by sprocket 7 3' mounted upon shaft `7411joiirnaled in l the" frame oi the auxiliary conveyor.`

Shaft7fl is y"provided with a driven sprocket `75 which carriescliain 76 traveling'einer` drive sprocket 77 which isinounted upon shalt78 *extendingV from gear reduction assembly 79. Gearing in assembly 7 9-is driven by'a motor 8O by ineans'of shaft 8l (see Figs.;

7 andlO). Yvhere an upper chain carrying conveyor Wheel is :provided for supporting the upper'run of a conveyor chain, it Willbe under-stood that a corresponding lower chain supporting,r Wheelis provided to carry the lower `run of the(` chain.. Similarly, the constructiony andniode of operation ofthe auxiliary .conveyors `57 and 5S and the associated mechanism are identical.` It Willtherefore be understood that `when apart is described-in detail With respect to eithero-these auxilthe first aiixiliaryconveyor ..57 from the loiv `iary conveyors, the same descripition applies tothe other. Y `For this reason,l a detailedde-` scription of auxiliary conveyor 57 will not befgiven except Where the construction and association with the main conveyor dill'er from 'theauxiliaryfconveyor 58.l i

. Referring aga-in .to delivery conveyorchain Ll5 at the discharge end of the machinatthis chain travels uponivheel 8d2 associated with the. first auxiliary rconveyor 57V, l Articles are conveyed to high Vspeed conveyorfchain/i in speed convey-or chain 83 corresponding to low speed conveyor chain 7 2 of the ,second auxiliary conveyor 58.

Special mechanism is provided for arrestingthe'travel o'lj an article or objectin the auxiliary conveyors `when an'article isbeing conveyedfupon the main conveyor in such mannerthatthey might interfere or collide, and this means also serves to regulate the travel of articles upon the main conveyor received or carried by `all of the conveyors to thefdiscliarge end. Referring to Figs. `1, 7 and 101A a depressibleslioe member 84 nor mally elevated so as to stand in the patlirof anV article being' conveyed, is moiiiitedjupon arms 85 secured to rock sha-ft 86 suitably joiirnaled ink the frame of the machine. 4Shaft i AS6 hasl mounted thereon an oppositelyexf se ten ding` arm: 87 upon which isslidably,inount `ed 'iveightSSptending normally to maintain shoe ineinberii in elevated position. Mounti ed upon arm 87 is a L-shapedr arm 89, as best shown in Fi 1, 8 and 9, theyunder surface of the horizontal iipperportion of which con` tacts with head 90 oi' a vertically reciprocating` plunger 91 Slidab'ly mounted in 'a bear-` ing 92pr`ovided in the switch Vbox 93.' The lower extremity of plunger 9lisada'pted to Contact with a projection ,9st Secured to rock V`ofthe path of the crate-or other article i110.

. article has -passedbeyond shoe Se on the main shaft 95, and'rockis'ha-t' has mountedithvere-A Y on. a titltable mercury lsvvitch` 96containing` mercury N 97 and ,provided nearone'fend with electrical contacts 98 andf99, whereby when plunger 9.1 Ais inl lowered-;positionas i shown in Fig. .9 the'inerciiiy is yout-of Contact ywith 'thecontactsS and 99=and the'lcircfuitis open,

`ivliereas when plunger f 91 is in Jelevated {pon}` `sition themercuryis incontact with said cone `tacts 96 and V99 andthe circuitus Eclosed,

sWitch961normal`l-ybeingheldqtilted infcircui-t breaking .positioniintilsaid. shoefmembei y 7 l i 64` isdepressed, Where'uponitis rocked tocifr'f*l cuit closing position'byY iiveight 1GO-'mounted v `on arm 101 secured toshat- `9,55 as' Abestshown i in FigfS. -By theconstructionand arrange-V ment shown, when shoe '84e isfidepressed fby contactwith an article thereivithgtheelectric circuit hereinafter described thro'iilghconta'cts f `9S and 99 isfclosedybutlwhen Ashoe )84 isin normal elevated "position, ythefcfircu'it `is open as shown i-n .Fig.. 9; 'VeightlOOupon the "armi V101f-is` merely -suliicientto maintain the head '90 oi "plunger 91infco'nitactl fWith theq upper portion of arm`89, whereastheconsideiably heavier Weight 88serves tonormally l inaintainf shoej-Si in elevated position-fand., plunger 91',depressed` to *holdfsi'vitch' 96 iii open condition.y *5

y Elect ic energy for actiiating the arrest`v` ing meansis provided through Wires 102 and 103 preferablyleading romrthe same source l of electrical ener-gy (not shown) which.sup-` plies the motor 8O7 as sho-Wn in Fig. 7 ,'but-hav- 7 ing no effect .on the Imotor control or opfer-`v ation.; Wire 102 isgconnected `to contact-f98, and wirelll is connected toyonetern-iinal of a solenoid c oilplnotsho-Wn indetail butobfi viously constructed and contained Within 105 u i intQthe/path lof anV article such. as "a milkl bottlev crate 110, vwhenlthelatteriisin posi-j iL i shoe member I84 is depressedandconseqiient i ly the circuit closed. yThedetainingdogs{109 arenorinallyrsvvung tio-lowered positionout by means of a tension spring lll` `Atervan v linear conveyor 15 asshoyvn in igs.s7 ,andv

10Q SWitclfi v9o.V isiswvungsto circuit opening position asshovvn-inFig. 9, thereby releasing the` crate or article {that hasbeen detained asv desof;

i scribed, and permitting lthe article to follow other words,

' iliary lconveyorare actuated with luntil such time occurs. struction and voperation standing.

of a relatively slow iaryconveyon ticle traveling that article whichy has just passed beyon the shoe 84 on the main conveyor. l

Referring to F ig. 2, the feeding of articles from auxiliaryfconveyor 58v is similarly controlled by means of shoe member 112 which corresponds' with shoe member 84 associated.

however, thatv shoe member 112 is ofsuih cient length to' provide for its' elevation between two successive articles being conveyed upon the main conveyor and spaced apart sufficiently'toallowvfor thefeeding of an ar-L In the foregoing explanation of the con'- struction ofthe apparatus, explanation of operation has been included to facilitate under- Articles are normally initially conveyedl upon the main conveyor by means speed conveyor chain. At a point preceding the first auxiliary con?. veyorthe article is delivered to a relatively high speed conveyor chain upon the main conveyor, and simultaneously with the convey* anceof articles upon the main conveyor, articles are conveyed upon-as many of the auxy iliary conveyors as it may be desired to provide. f The high' speed delivery portion ofthe main conveyor serves to convey the articles in lineally spaced relation and at sufficient speed to accommodate the reception of articles that are fed from ythe lateral auxiliary conveyors at substantially the same speed. kAs an article upon fthe main conveyor approaches any one of the auxiliary conveyors, arresting meansfassociated with such auxso Aas to 'arrest `article upon j the aux-il- In other words, when' an arupon the main conveyor reaches a point approximately in alignment with an auxiliary conveyor i e or in 'proximity to the communicable Junction of the auxilthe travel of an iary conveyor-and the main conveyor, mechanisin is actuated throughthe medium of that Y particular article being conveyed'upon the main conveyor to arrest the travel of an article upon the auxiliary conveyor. When the article `upon the main conveyor lhas passed the inean'swhich actuates the t l arresting ,mechanism, the

articlearrested upon the auxiliary lconveyor is released so as to follow in lin'e behind the articleconveyed upon the main conveyor 57,- It will beunderstood,A

inain conveyor at the conveyor, and thus maintain control over the delivery of articles to the main conveyor from the auxiliary conveyors with relation tothe travel of articles upon the main conveyor.

It may ors are of importance in the efticientoperation of controlling the entrance ofthe crates or other articles to the main linear-conveyorffrom they lateral auxiliary conveyors. "The function of these is obviously advantageous in assuring the proper spacing of the articles on the main conveyor after they leave the preliminary slow speed feeding conveyor of which said high speed linear conveyor is a continuation. Itis this spacing of the crates orv other articles as they start upon the higher speed conveyor, whether the crates are moving in close contact or" abutting relation or not while traveling oir-the slow speed prelim 1 inary I feeding conveyor, together .withk the comparative lengths of the respective depressible shoes yon the main conveyor, which controls the operation of the mechanism in checking the movementof the crates or articles from the lateral auxiliary conveyors, and by which provision the crates or articles may be loaded on the preliminary conveyor either manually or bymechanical means and with Y uniformityl in no particular regularity or e on said slow spacing the crates or articles speed feeding'coiiveyor. n

While I have illustrated and described `the preferred form of constructionfor my invention'intoeifect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. fore, do not wish to be limited to the precise be .y here 'also noted that the coop-l erative relatively fast and slow speed conveycarrying 1 I, theredetails of construction set forth, but desire toavail myself of such variations and modiications as come within pended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and'desire to secure` byLetters Patent is:

described, comprising, incoinbination, a main article conveyor having a channel chain guideway and a flexiblev conveyor chain arranged to travel in said guideway and to pro-y ject above the upper surface thereof for sup.- port-ing contact with articles being .conveyed thereon, an auxiliary article conveyor for dis-y charging articles :laterally onto said main article conveyor and having avchannel chain guidcway extending in proxinfiityV to said communicable u nction of said auxiliaryconveyor therewith, a supplemental channel chain guidewayfdisposed in said main article conveyor in parallel cooperative relation to the first mentioned chan"- nel chain guideivay thereof and vfunctioning as a continuation of said channel chainguideway of thel auxiliary article conveyor, 4 an auxiliary iiexiblel conve 7or chain arranged to ics the scope ofthe apl 'ii'o l. Conveying apparatus of the character i said auxiliary ythe main conveyory in u relation tol the chain 'ofthe latter, `common' yconveyor for lactuating `said parallel cooperative power means', forudriving said chains, an idler Wheel mounted to rotateabou't avertical axis and disposed adjacent the junction of conveyor and said main conveyor lfor supporting'said auxiliary conveyor chain 1in cooperative relation to the chain of saidv main conveyordeta1n1 ng means for arresting travel of an article upon said auxiliary conveyor adjacent its junction with said main conveyor without interference with the auxiliary conveyor chain, and means operable by an varticle being conveyedupon said .main detainiiig means when thearticle vupon said main conveyor is p'ositionedlin proximityto the communicable junctionjof said main v"ConvGYQI With said'auxiliaryv conve or, said article operable means arrangedto' cessive ,articles traveling on said main conveyor with insuflicient space between said successivearticles for theinterposition of an article from said auxiliary conveyor.

6. Conveying apparatus of the character described, comprising, in combination, a main article conveyorhaving a channel chain guideway, parallel cooperating article guideways and 'a flexible conveyor chain arranged 'to travel in said chain guidewayand to prol' ject above the upper surface thereof for supf porting Contact WithartiCIes being conveyed,

an auxiliary article conveyor for articles laterally ontov said 'main conveyor tion thereof,

ference with e engaged by two suc-l 1 the communicable discharging l v j u and having a channel chain guid'eway, paral lelcooperating larticle guideways and ay flexi-`V` ble conveyoruchain. arranged to travel in said last named chain guidewayandato ing contact with articles being conveyed, said auxiliary conveyor main conveyorjin parallel cooperative relation to lthe chainoffsaid main conveyor and having an additional chain guide/wayv inl said main conveyor for accommodating said aux-A iliary conveyor chain, `supplemental means y*for supporting said auxiliary conveyorchain betweenfsaidauxiliary conveyor andy said mainy conveyor at thecommumcable juncchain-,extending'into said de taining means for-[arresting articleupoii saidauxiliary coinl l l project above the upper surface' thereof for-support-l f conveyor chains simultaneously and at substantially; the sam'espeedja preliminary feeding conveyor in alignment ywith said main conveyor and'providedwith av flexible conveyorl chain, andy rpower means for drivingy said preliminary feeding conveyor vchain at less speed than'said main .conveyor gchain.

EDWARDHAGELINE. o 

